B.A.S.I.C. NEWSLETTER #217

B.A.S.I.C. NEWSLETTER #217 Pentecost

I Cor.. 16:9 ‘For a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.’

May 24, 2012

The Invisible Hand

In the study of economics I think it was Adam Smith who first coined the term ‘the invisible hand’ which referred to the operation of the market with thousands and thousands of decisions made to buy and sell, in demand and supply. The point is that no government or group of people could possibly make these decisions as the multitude of individuals can, given their own individual situations. It is as if an invisible hand is at work to advance the business of people.
Of course we know that in the spiritual realm there is THE invisible hand and His hand involves Him in all affairs on this earth and into the next life for us. We celebrate His invisible hand in outreach in the CLC.
What is visible to many of us is the formal work of the CLC Mission Board in the following countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, India, Nepal, Myanmar. But there is more going on with our God at work using us and our sister synods in various places beyond these areas. His invisible hand is at work.

Uganda – Pastor Jeremiah and the CLCEA has been working with contacts in Uganda for some years now.

Zimbabwe – Correspondence with the Mission Board by an individual allowed Pastors Ohlmann and Ude to visit there this year.

Zambia – In the Lusaka area Pastor Karioki has been working coming from the CLCEA in Tanzania. In the Kitwe area Pastor Yumba from the Congo CLC has been working.

Kenya – At Moi’s Bridge Pastor Gurath worked to establish a true Lutheran congregation through the CLC congregation in Phoenix, Ariz.

Peru – The CLC congregation at Mankato, Mn. with Pastor Nolting has been working in Lima through its member, Daniel Pfeiffer.

Sudan – Most recently work has started through the Mankato congregation among Sudanese in the newly independent country. At the same time Pastor Panpani from the CLCEA has been traveling up to Juba to work there.

Thailand – We continue to pray that Pastor Bohde will be able to resume work.

We could not possibly as a group plan and carry out what God’s invisible hand does. What a joy to be co-workers with Him? 2 Cor. 6:1 We are but the earthen vessels that carry the treasure to others. The treasure is His to share. He sends us to the recipients. He blesses the reception.

Twenty Years Ago – How about Today?

Within Christendom there is a thrust by many to reach those ‘who have never been told’ nor even have had the opportunity to hear the Gospel within a reasonable radius of their domicile. It is highly commendable to take this into account in reaching out. A definition of the ‘unreached’ is “people have no Christian neighbors, no local Christian churches, no missionary making the rounds.” Pastor Bohde when he was missionary in Thailand wrote in May ’93, “There are three things we can do now. First, we can make ‘reaching the unreached’ our first priority and goal. As we examine what we are doing, and how we are using our God-given resources, let us focus on this objective. We can be sure of God’s blessings when we make every other goal subordinate to reaching the unreached.”

From Victory unto Victory His Army Shall He Lead…This Day the Noise of Battle, The Next the Victor’s Song

Michael Green wrote in “Evangelism in the Early Church”, “The enthusiasm to evangelize which marked the early Christians is one of the most remarkable things in the history of religions. Here were men and women of every rank and station in life, of every country in the known world, so convinced that they had discovered the riddle of the universe, so sure of the one true God whom they had come to know, that nothing must stand in the way of their passing on this good news to others. As we have seen, they did it by preaching and personal conversation, by formal discourse and informal testimony, by arguing in the synagogue and by chattering in the laundry. They might be slighted, laughed at, disenfranchised, robbed of their possessions, their homes, even their families, but this would not stop them. They might be reported to the authorities as dangerous atheists, and required to sacrifice to the imperial gods; but they refused to comply. In Christianity they had found something utterly new, authentic and satisfying. They were not prepared to deny Christ even in order to preserve their own lives; and in the manner of their dying they made converts to their faith.” Oh for such a faith as this!